Goodbye, Ms. Parks. Hello, Alito?
While the nation bids the last farewell to Rosa Parks, Bush nominated Alito, a known hardcore conservative, to the Supreme Court. The juxtaposition is quite stunning. Ms. Parks was the catalyst who put the Civil Rights Movement in motion, while Alito was someone who once said that a married woman should get the permission from her husband before she should be allowed to have an abortion. So ironic, so sad. All this talk about individual rights is just a sham if a woman is stripped of her right to decide what she could or could not do with her own body.
What a Night, What a Morning!
Last night, a bunch of us went to Nightmare on Beaver Lake where we walked through the haunted trail and the haunted house of Chuckles the Clown. The scary scenes along the trail were quite well done and I jumped and screamed a few times when characters jumped out from behind the trees and bushes. But I was quite scared in the haunted house mainly because it was pitch black when we first got in and we had to go through all these curtained doorways. It was a fun experience. Afterwards when we went to D.C. Grill for dinner, I was still expecting people to jump out from behind the cars as we walked across the parking lot. I was exhausted after a long day at work (it was actually not bad considering it was a Saturday) and an adrenaline-pumping night. Thank goodness for the time change.
Our morning started a little bit off kilter at work. Right after my first appointment, this cople brought in a cat with breathing difficulty. We gave her oxygen, IV fluid, did X-rays…. She had quite a bit of fluid or some sort of lung lesion and even though we initially responded positively to the oxygen therapy, she started having trouble again 10 to 15 minutes later. Her heart rate went down and started to gasp. I gave her IV epinephrine and attempted CPR with no luck. Despite all the we did, she still died. The owners felt horrible because they noticed the cat not being right for the last few days and she started having breathing difficulty last night. But because they didn’t know that there are emergency hospitals in the area, they did not bring the cat in then. It was very sad and frustrating, but shit happens sometimes. I just hope the rest of the day will go a bit smoother!
Just Indict Them!
The airwaves have been full of the latest updates on the investigation into Rove and Libby’s roles in exposing the identity of CIA operative, Valerie Plame. It will be ironic, yet fitting, to see these two Bush and Cheney cronies indicted under the law that was put into effect by Papa Bush when he was the head of the CIA. But just indicting them for perjury will be pretty satisfying too. Along with the in-fighting due to the Miers nomination, the mess with the hurricane response and FEMA and the potential disaster associated with the Medicaid reform, looks like Bush is on his way down… let’s just hope it will be quick and over and done with.
Shop, Shop and Shop Somemore!
OK, so my week really hasn’t been as mundane as it sounded when I posted my last entry. I was doing my online surfing through the usual shopping sites, mainly Amazon.com, a couple of weeks ago when I found this amazing deal for the ultimate espresso machine and coffee mill – yep, my all-time favorite, Kitchenaid Pro-Line products!! The espresso/drip coffee machine we got for our wedding did not last very long and we have been drooling over the Kitchenaid espresso machine for a long time. I was just waiting for some special deal online or in store. When I found out that for a limited time, the espresso machine is 43% off from Amazon.com, how could I turn it down!!??!! And then I found out that the burr coffee mill was also on sale for 38% off, I was beside myself!! For less than what it would have cost at Macy’s to get the espresso machine, I could get both the mill and the machine. It was a no-brainer!
So there you go, I ordered the machines with the impression that it would be forever before we receive them because it was a special deal when they didn’t even have the machine in stock yet etc, etc (I didn’t care because of the great deal). Besides, I wanted free shipping, so that meant waiting until they have got both to deliver it. But surprise, surprise!! They arrived within 3 weeks of me ordering them. And when I checked the price on Amazon.com last night, guess what, they sale is over and they are back to their original price!! I am just so proud of myself! We have just been very lucky with the Kitchenaid appliances – we got almost 50% off a Pro-line gas/electric range and oven last year out of pure luck! All in all, I love shopping online! In fact, I have started my Christmas shopping already… well, what can I say, I am a shopaholic and I am proud of it!
Need to Make Time for Blogging!
It’s been a while since I have written… I knew this was going to happen as the novelty wears off and life gets in the way of good journal keeping. And Jean, I am feeling OK. :)
Work as been busy but steady, so I am not at any burnout stage like I was when I was back at Banfield. More work, more dinero, so that is a good thing. As Dan kept on reminding me, more work will bring us closer to the dream house in Kitsilano, whenever we get to move back to Vancouver.
We were back in Vancouver last weekend to see the parental units and to attend my Great Aunt #7’s 88th birthday bash – lots of good food and great company. We then spent Sunday just lounging around. Dan taught that night and I was feeling lazy, so I didn’t go to the yoga class. Instead, I took Gander for a walk down to Kits beach. I just love the fall. I moved into my apartment in Kits 4 years ago around this time of the year. Just walking around that neighborhood makes me really want to move back. The smell in the air, the crunching of leaves underfoot… just love it!
Rowing this morning was brutal – it was dry and not windy as I left the house, but as I got close to the boathouse, it was just coming down like there is no tomorrow. We were drenched by the time we started out warm up sequence and the rest of the row was just miserable. The fact that our timing was off a lot of the time didn’t help. The nice hot shower at the gym was heavenly! I am just happy to be dry right now.
OK, time to work!
I'm Sore!
It turned out that the Deep Cove Classic was not 100% cancelled, it just fell apart at some point because a few crews from Vancouver Island could not get over to the Lower Mainland due to some issues with the ferries. There were still 14 boats in the race. Now, here’s the interesting part: I was told by my coach that there will be a seat somewhere for me in a boat; but what she didn’t mention was that all the Master rowers at Deep Cove Rowing Club are all scullers. So after a lot of reorganizing because certain people were sick and couldn’t row in their original crew, I was put to stroke in a double. Yep, I have been in a double maybe 4 times? And I have sculled perhaps 5 or 6 times at the most. So ‘racing’ was a bit of an exaggeration. It was more like a private sculling lesson with a very experienced rower/coach! We still participated in the race and I think I did about 13 or 14K altogether (the race was 7K).
Deep Cove is beautiful even when it was raining. As much as I was not supposed to look around while I rowed, I couldn't help noticing the beautiful waterfront houses and the mountains around us. I bet it is gorgeous there when it is warm and sunny! Perhaps we would go kayaking there at in the future.
Mum came out to the boathouse with me even though it was a the crack of dawn. She walked around a bit and then waited for me in the car when it started to rain hard. After the race, we went to a local coffee shop called Honey’s Doughnut. The plain doughnuts there were super yummy, but the cinnamons were not nearly as good as those from Grounds for Coffee in Kits next to the apartment where I used to live.
We went home, cleaned up and headed out for dim sum at Kirin. We ate lots and I still had room for dessert! The original plan was to go shopping after lunch, but I was dosing off soon after we got into the car, so we just went back to the house and napped! After sleeping for just over an hour, I got up and started heading south. The rain was horrible on the way down, but I got through without much trouble – managed to be home just under 3 hours.
Dan gave me a huge surprise when I got home – he painted the dining room on Saturday while I was at work and replace the hideous lamp in that room!! All our friends and family who have been to our house have noticed the paint swatch that we have left up on the wall for almost 2 years. It has finally come down! Dan also re-arranged the furniture in our guest room so that the headboard of the bed is no longer sharing the wall with the headboard of our bed. When our guests snored, we used to hear it in our room… and I am sure they could hear us snore too…. Well, at least they were able to hear Dan snore!
I slept very well last night and had a hard time getting up this morning for rowing class. After all that effort, I found out that it was too windy for us to go out this morning, so we did partnered erging exercise instead. We did a pyramid piece and we each ended up rowing 8K (500m, 1000m, 1500m, 2000m, 1500m, 1000m, 500m). I am still sore from it all!! I am sure I will fall asleep early tonight!
Work has been weird today. One of the other doctors hurt her back very badly yesterday, so she will be out of commission for a while. We are sharing her appointments, most of which had to be rescheduled. I had multiple no-shows and rescheduled appointments of my own, so I was sort of slow in the morning. But just before lunch time, things started going crazy (for me). At least I managed to run and grab a bite to eat. And now I am wondering where my appointment is… I’d better go and check…. I think they are almost 10 minutes late…
OK, So I Am the Keener
I was looking forward to the Deep Cove Classic regatta this weekend, but found out yesterday at the last minute that it has been cancelled because there are issues with the ferries and many of the clubs will not be able to make it…. Darn, just when we managed to get enough people to make a boat. Well, I have already made a commitment to go up to see Mum and the invitation is open to anyone who still wants to row out there on Sunday. So I will be the keener and show up at 7 a.m. on a Sunday morning at someone else’s boathouse just to that I can go out for a row. I have never been to Deep Cove and it shouldn’t take me long to get there that early on the weekend from Mum’s house, so why not! The down side of it all is that it is supposed to rain this weekend…
Funny Bumper Sticker
Did the second 6K erg test of the season (and my second 6K ever) this morning. It was hard, but I did better than my last one and it was a totally different experience doing it will the rest of the crew.
Also confirmed that I will get to row in the Deep Cove Classic this weekend in North Vancouver. The coach has found enough people interested in going up. It will be over around 11 a.m., so we will be able to meet up with Mum later. Not sure at this point if Dan will come to the race… I doubt he would want to wake up early on a Sunday morning after driving up the night before. We’ll see.
I saw this funny bumper sticker on a truck on my way to work:
- It will be a great day when our schools have all the money they need and the air force has to hold a bake sale to get their next bomber.
As expected, there are also the usual anti-Bush and anti-war stickers on this truck as well. :)
It's All About Rowing
It has been a few tiring but rewarding days. On Saturday, I had a fairly busy day at work – fully booked appointments, phone calls, paperwork and overworked technicians… you know, the usual Saturday. But the cases were all fairly straightforward and the clients were nice, so it made the day went a lot smoother.
Yesterday, I participated in my first ‘serious’ head races – Tail of the Lake on Lake Union. The Row for the Cure last month was fun and was for a great cause, but this was a bit more competitive. Our women’s 8+ was in the first flight and we came 8th out of 12 boats. I was also in a mixed 8+ in the third flight and we came 4th out of 10 boats; but I was quite tired from the first race that I was barely hanging on during the second race. At least I managed to keep up and did not catch a crab. Doing two 4K races in a day was quite hard, but almost everyone else did it, so I can’t complain too much.
It was nice to hang out with my fellow rowers yesterday and have some bonding time. I start to lose that ‘outsider’ feeling as a result. One thing I found out yesterday while hanging out with the rest of the rowers from my class was that I am not the only one who is not too keen on our new head coach. I have kept my opinions to myself, but almost everyone else didn’t! I have not been too impressed about the drill sergeant approach to coaching; I feel much more motivated when the coach has a positive attitude and is not condescending or mean when they criticize my rowing techniques. It is nice to be told that I have made good changes instead of being told that I suck at whatever I was doing and then was not given much advice on how to improve. Certain coaches have the ability to explain what they want us to work on in different ways if the first attempt did not work; and then they are excited and enthusiastic about it when we finally get it and make a positive change. This new coach seems to lack in this specific talent. I am sure she is very knowledgeable, but she just needs to work on her attitude and make her point without being totally rude about it. Having said that, she did complement me on my rowing today, so I can’t be too harsh on her… at least not today.
After rowing over 8K yesterday, a slower pace workout this morning was a nice change. The water was great and our crew worked together very well, we had a nice solid row and workout without killing ourselves. Now it’s time to recuperate before our second 6K erg test on Wednesday! Yuck!
Can't Please Everybody
There is just no pleasing everybody… Yesterday, a young couple brought their cat in that we have never seen before. The lady’s mother is a client, but we have never seen the daughter or the cat. This poor cat was either hit by a car or kicked by a horse the day before. It was seen at another hospital and was diagnosed with a broken leg. The cat was then transferred to a 24-hour hospital for overnight observation to ensure that he was stable while awaiting surgery (by a specialist). Due to financial reason and because the cat seemed stable enough, the owners decided to take the cat home with pain killers and the contact info of various specialist surgeons in the area. The earliest they could get the surgery done is next Monday with one of the surgeons; they thought that was not soon enough and brought the cat to us (probably because her mother was our client).
Apparently, the cat did well overnight and from physical examination, despite having a broken leg, he was still in good spirits and was responding well to the pain killer. There were no evidence of trauma the thorax or abdomen. The owners were aware that the surgery is a specialist procedure and understood that we could not have the surgery done at our hospital yesterday. So I advised them to call the surgeon who could do the surgery on Monday back to secure their appointment, meanwhile, I recommended that we keep the cat for the day so that we could put a bandage on him to stabilize the fracture prior to the surgery on Monday. I also told her that I would call a mobile specialist to see if he could come to do the surgery at our hospital the next day. The lady said that she had to work and could not come to pick the cat up later in the evening (even though we close at 9 p.m.); I offered to keep the cat here overnight so that she could pick him up this morning – that would not have worked for her either. She then suggested that she bring that cat back to the first hospital to get the bandage put on because that way, her mother can pick up the cat. At that point, I told her what the cat needed and I did not care who got it done; if it would work for her to bring the cat elsewhere, so be it. She seemed happy with the arrangement.
I proceeded to call the mobile surgeon and see if he could fit this poor cat in. When he called me back, he said that he could try to come to our hospital after his morning surgery only if he finished early, i.e. there was no guarantee. I called the owner back and left a message. She never called me back, so I called the surgeon back and told him not to worry about it.
Today, the mother of the owner called and asked to speak to the manager to discuss what happened yesterday. Apparently she was not happy… but some people never are even if you bend over backwards for them. Perhaps I should have offered to personally deliver the cat to the owner at her work place after we have put the bandage on the cat…. And maybe bring her dinner while I am at it.
Back to Work
My day off yesterday turned out to be not as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as I thought. After coming home from the dog park just before noon, I was going to read for a bit and watch a bit of day-time TV (no, not soaps… laugh if you must, but I like to catch watch the occasional ‘Matlock’, ‘Murder She Wrote’ and maybe ‘Perry Mason’…). But soon after I sat down on the couch and got the book out, I fell asleep for almost 2 hours. I remained really fuzzy-headed for another hour flipping through the channels before I finally got up and do the chores that I planned.
After receiving the Moro cookbook from May Shiu almost 2 years ago, I finally tried one of the recipes. Apparently, Moro is a very well-known restaurant in London specializing in Spanish, Moorish and Middle Eastern food. It took me so long to try the recipes because I have perceived them as those that require a lot of work and ‘special ingredients’. But after going through them (May Shiu also got me the second cookbook written by the same writers, i.e. the owners of the restaurant), I realized that many of them are actually fairly simple and non-labour intensive. Anyhow, I tried the slow-cook lamb with artichokes and mint and it turned out great! Dan did not care for the mint, but I think it gave it an extra kick. It went really well the cous cous and it is definitely something I would make again.
Maybe because I have been spending more time with Gander in the past 2 days, he seemed particularly ‘cuddly’ yesterday, and would rest his head on my foot while we were hanging out in the living room. We also managed to watch the Animal Channel without him jumping at the TV every few seconds… Or maybe he is just tired from all the playing and activities in the past couple of week! Or dare I think that he is calming down at last??!! …Nah, not so much!
Work has been busy but steady today, which is what I like. My only hospitalized patient is a 14 year-old Dachshund that has just been diagnosed with Addison’s disease. This is the second case of Addison’s I have seen in the past month and I would have been ‘lucky’ to see one a year! He is doing very considering he was half-dead when he came in 3 days ago! If everything progresses as it has been in the past few days, he should be going home tomorrow. Got to make room for the next run of sick pets!
Bright-Eyed and Bushy-Tailed!
Had a good workout this morning and am looking forward to another productive day off. I was originally assigned a port seat for practice this morning, but there were last minute changes involving the race line-ups (Tail of the Lake on Sunday at Lake Union), so I got to row on starboard today- phew! I also found out that one of the women is sick and won’t be able to race on Sunday, so I will be taking her place. At first I thought that would mean that I won’t have to row in the Mixed 8+ where I was assigned a port seat, but I found out that I am actually going to row in both the Mixed 8+ and the Women’s 8+ races on Sunday! That would be a huge challenge because I am not sure how I will manage physically, but it was nice that the coach picked me to do it. I just have to make sure that I don’t mess it up!
Well, time to head off to the dog park!
It's Been One Week
Wow, a week without writing a new post… maybe the novelty is wearing off? Perhaps... but I have been quite busy since the last entry. Dan and I went to Sacramento to attend Ruth and Eric’s wedding last weekend. We dropped off Gander first thing in the morning at Camp Happy Paws. He headed straight for the gate to the dog enclosure the moment we let him out of the car and he did not even look back at us! I knew right away that he was going to have a great time there (and he sure did!).
The flight to Sacramento was uneventful, but I was definitely surprised when we arrived at the airport. I assumed that the capital of the biggest and richest state in the U.S. would have a nice airport, but the terminal we arrived at reminded me a lot of the one in Rhodes, Greece – a very small and blah airport which looked like it was built in the 60’s and was never renovated. Even the exterior of the airport hotel across the road looked like it was from the 60’s. The only thing that made it look ‘modern’ was the Starbucks sign!!
The airport is approximately 30 minutes from the hotel according to Streets and Trips; it would have cost $70 for a cab ride, so we went the cheap way and took the shuttle ($47 including tips). Big mistake!! We waited almost 25 minutes just to get on a shuttle; bad traffic along with 3 other stops before our hotel made a 30+ minute trip into an almost 2-hour ride. We should have taken the cab! We barely had time to get changed and be ready for the ‘rehearsal dinner’. We were not in the wedding party, but Ruth and Eric were very nice and invited us and other out-of-town guests to a Chinese banquet the night before the wedding. Pat, Nikki and Mike were there as well and I got to meet Nikki’s boys, Ethan and Jake, for the first time. It was great to see them and we all had a good time catching up and hanging out. The food was excellent and I definitely ate too much!! After dinner, I was invited to help at the ‘flower party’; but all I did was watch Nikki put the bouquets together and a bit of TV.
I got up early the next morning to help a little bit with setting up the tables for the reception/lunch. And then I went back upstairs to get ready. The ceremony was outdoors, but because it was in the morning and we were in the shade, it was not hot at all and the ceremony was very nice. Immediately after the ceremony was the reception/lunch. I guess because the hotel caters to many weddings each day, they were on a tight schedule – the D.J. played no more than 4 songs after the first dances and he announced the last song… and before we knew it, the lights were turned on (they were dimmed for the event) and we were ‘kicked out’.
I took a bit of a nap afterwards and then we met up with Nikki, Mike and their children and Pat to check out the Historic Town of Folsom, which was just across the road from the hotel. That turned out to be bit of a disappointment. The historic part of town consists of essentially one street; by the time we got there around 5 p.m., most of the stores were closed or were closing. Most of the restaurants were lunch restaurants only, so they were closed as well. The chocolate factory/confectionary was open though, so we went in and got some candy. We ran into Eric’s brother and cousins, so we decided to go to the pizza place together, since that seemed to be the only restaurant open. Once we sat down, we saw Ruth’s parents and 2 of her sisters coming in as well!
After dinner, we went back to the hotel and sat out on the patio with Nikki and her family for a while chatting. It was a lot of fun hanging out with them and the children were adorable! We had an early night because we had to leave early the next day; so even though it was a fairly short get-together, it was the quality that counts.
We arrived in Seattle around 11 a.m. on Sunday and we went to pick up Gander from camp on the way home. We were told he behaved very well during his stay and his best buddy there was a Boxer (he seems to enjoy playing with other Labs, Boxers and Great Danes the most). He crashed after getting home and so did Dan and I after we had a bite to eat! The entire family had a nice nap together in the living room until it was time for us to go out to meet Naomi and Mark for dinner before ‘The King and I’.
We had dinner at Sazerac and it was great to finally meet Mark. The food was pretty good and I even managed to have room for dessert after having soup and pasta! I also had wine with dinner and I was concerned that I would fall asleep during the show! But there was no risk of me falling asleep – the show was great!! I only remember bits of the musical which I saw when I was very little; so I was surprised at how many songs I recognized! It was a great show and very entertaining! At the end of the show, the lead actress, Stephanie Powers (from Hart to Hart) offered to match any donations we made to help Katrina-affected animals after the show. So we did our part and gave a small donation on our way out.
For some reason, I was scheduled to work just 1 day after having 4 days off and then I get another 2 days off! So I spent today going to the dog park, grocery shopping and cooking. I tried out a couple of new recipes, including Seared Beef Tenderloin with Sun-dried Tomato Butter. Everything turned out really well. I spent more than 3 hours in the kitchen and barely noticed it!! I also made Apple and Raisin Crumble to consume some of the apples we got from Chelan. The crumble crust still did not work out as I have hoped, so I think I will have to try something totally different next time…perhaps I will use oatmeal instead of flour…
Tomorrow, I have more plans to try new recipes. I also have to get the guest room ready for Nick, Vicki and her sister’s family. They are arriving late Thursday night in order to catch a plane from Sea-Tac to Arizona early next day… I probably won’t see them since I have to go to bed early Thursday night in order to make it to practice Friday morning. Perhaps on their way back…
